The actions and statements of President Trump and those in his administration aimed at undermining equal opportunity and anti-discrimination efforts have increased daily since Inauguration Day, culminating yesterday—as reported by Erica Green of the New York Times and countless others—in the president's bizarre, baseless, and insulting suggestion that the devastating plane crash into the Potomac River this week was somehow caused by diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Ariana Baio of the Independent reports that these actions will result in the U.S. State Department significantly downplaying Black History Month when it begins tomorrow. I'm sure that other federal agencies will follow suit. [UPDATE: And less than 12 hours after I wrote that sentence, NBC News is reporting Federal agencies bar Black History Month and other 'special observances'] Nevertheless, Apple is still recognizing Black History Month, and Apple debuted its 2025 Black Unity Collection this week. The part of that collection that intrigued me the most was the new watch face now available to all Apple Watch owners. It is called Unity Rhythm, and it features custom numerals formed by intertwined threads of red, green, and yellow. The design is impressive. The new watch face uses the watch's gyroscope so that the colors change as you move your wrist. The design also moves when you touch the watch face. It is a bold and interesting watch face that I encourage you to check out. Sure, you can enable it to show that you support diversity, but it is also just fun to play around with. The only downside is that it reminds me that I wish that Apple would release new watch faces far more frequently and/or allow third parties to create watch faces. This new watch face demonstrates that there is so much potential for watch face creativity. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Apple released iOS 18.3 this past Monday. Juli Clover of MacRumors explains everything that is new—which isn't much, but there are some tweaks to Apple Intelligence. There are also some critical security updates, including a fix for one actively exploited vulnerability.
- Rumor has it that at some point in 2025, Apple will introduce a new smart home product, something similar to a HomePod with a screen. Jason Snell of Six Colors explains in an article for Macworld that while perhaps it would have been nicer for Apple to have introduced a product like this long ago, this may actually be the perfect time for such a product from Apple because there is no clear leader in the market and a lot of the technology, like the Matter and Thread standards, seems to be maturing.
- Harry McCracken of Fast Company explains why surgeons and other doctors are using the Apple Vision Pro and seeking to expand the use of that device.
- Apple released a new immersive video for the Apple Vision Pro today called Man vs. Beast. It is a 10-minute short film about rodeo bull riders. I was afraid that it might include shots taken by people actually riding the bulls, which would have been nauseating. Instead, the film provides a better-than-front-row seat to the action guaranteed to get your heart beating. It's worth watching if you have access to an Apple Vision Pro.
- The Apple Vision Pro may be a new device, but much more simple virtual reality devices have been around for some time. Wesley Hilliard explains how to watch some of that legacy content on a Vision Pro.
- As Samsung has done many times in the past when Apple releases a product, Samsung is now copying the Apple Vision Pro. The product, which is still in development, is called Project Moohan, and Samsung has worked closely with Google to develop the product using the upcoming Android XR operating system. According to a video by tech reviewer Marques Brownlee and a related article by Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac, the headset is very similar to an Apple Vision Pro with only minor changes, and much of the user interface is a direct copy of what Apple came up with. That is disappointing. One feature that Samsung is showing off that is not currently a part of the Apple Vision Pro: the ability to press the Gemini button and talk to the AI. This includes asking the AI about something that you are currently looking at. Of course, Apple already has a similar feature for the iPhone 16—you can hold down the Camera Control button and then ask the iPhone to tell you about the places and objects around you—and so I suspect that Apple plans to add this and other Apple Intelligence features to the Vision Pro. Samsung predicts that it will have a product on sale at some point in 2025, but no price has been announced.
- The Super Bowl will occur in my hometown of New Orleans in about a week on February 9. The halftime performer will be Kendrick Lamar, and Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that starting on February 6, you will be able to play a special version of the Apple Vision Pro game Synth Riders that lets you move through one of his songs.
- You can also watch the Super Bowl in 4K for free on any Apple device, including the Apple TV, by using the Tubi app, as reported by David Snow of Cult of Mac.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac shares his thoughts on how Apple could improve CarPlay.
- Amber Neely of AppleInsider reports that an update to the Netflix app for the iPhone and iPad now lets you download an entire season of a show by pressing one button.
- Abner Li of 9to5Google reports that the Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad has been updated with a new design. I like it.
- Adam Engst of TidBITS compares Grammarly to Apple's new AI writing tools.
- For the last few years, if you have wanted to watch Major League Soccer, you had to use Apple TV+ to do so. Jason Snell of Six Colors explains that Apple is now making MLS League Pass available as a subscription add-on for users of Xfinity and DirecTV.
- Season 4 of the comedy Mythic Quest is now streaming on Apple TV+. The first two episodes came out this week, and I thought they were very funny. I'm happy to see that even though a lot has changed about the story since Season 1, there are still lots of big laughs. Kelly Woo of Tom's Guide says that it looks like this will be a good season of the show.
- I haven't started watching it yet, but Lucy Mangan of The Guardian says that the new Apple TV+ show Prime Target is "like Good Will Hunting meets The Bourne Identity" and is both "utterly preposterous and brilliant fun." It's on my list.
- For those having difficulty deciding whether to carry around an iPhone or a banana, you'll love this post from Lewis Wallace of Cult of Mac.
- And finally, 15 years ago this week, Apple launched the iPad. The Apple keynote during which Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone may have been the best one ever, but I think that this was the second best. Steve Jobs was noticeably frail from his health problems, but his enthusiasm for what Apple was introducing was palpable. The video is also interesting to watch because as Jobs shows off the very first iPad interface and apps, you cannot help but think about how far we have come. Steve Jobs asked during that presentation: "Is there room for a third category of device in the middle, something that is between a laptop and a smartphone?" Clearly, the answer is yes, and I use my iPad virtually every day. Here is that introduction video: